Letting it Burn & Rebuilding After the Flames

Think of how it starts – a fire in an unwanted place. At first your attention is drawn. Perhaps by the commotion of panic in others or the sounds of alarm. Perhaps by the awareness of growing light and heat. You step in, wanting to help and fix. Perhaps not too concerned, confident that you have the necessary tools and knowledge able to extinguish the flames. But then it builds. A sobering fear begins to set in as you realize it’s going to harm you and others – loved ones – if you don’t step back and escape. It gets harder to see and breathe as sweltering thick smoke consumes the air. Suddenly things that were fixtures in your life – safe and familiar, begin to turn to flames and ashes. Slowly comes the harsh truth – life will never be the same.

Such a fire can only take moments. But the process of questioning a paradigm of belief, like the Message, can involve months – and even years. Just when you think there’s nothing left to burn, another spark rises from the ashes, and on it goes. It can be the smallest thing to trigger the debate, incite the tension, cause the flurry of action in the circumstances of transition and change. And it’s exhausting – trying to hold onto things you treasure, not wanting everything to become fuel to the flames.

Letting it Burn: the Releasing

Something happened to me a couple years ago that helped me in a wonderful way. It was stepping back – and letting it burn. It felt like a part of me stopped caring to let it happen – but no. I cared deeply. I just knew that there was a point where the damage was done, and fixing it wasn’t the answer. And with more and more realization, the fire became beautiful, in a way. It was releasing me from the past. Idols, ideas, false hopes, heroes and facades of reality – it all needed to burn to the ground. See, I didn’t know that past was a prison until I began finding myself free. It eased the grieving, helped me embrace the “now” – and reach to the future.

Rebuilding – Seeing Life Spring Forth

I’ve come to love what a new beginning means. I didn’t know how much I needed or wanted it – until I started seeing new things grow. Sometimes from fire, things do grow – all on their own. And sometimes, you need to start building them yourself. Now you can create, explore, take hold of things with your hand and build, and learn what you’re capable of. The blueprint that was dictated to you is in ashes – so what do YOU want to build? How would you like to build it?

Not everything is easy. Nothing is free. Sometimes you need help. But how you ask, who you ask, why you ask – it’s fresh. It’s exciting.